Carl Eugene Matson was born on January 21, 1913 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His works consist mostly of sketches, in pencil and ink, and colorful collages, composed of construction paper cut very precisely using a razor. His first known work, a watercolor, was produced in 1938; his final work, a color collage, was produced in 1973, less than a year before his death. Matson was a self-taught outsider artist, his artistic achievements unrecognized in his own lifetime.

            Matson was one of seven children, two boys and five girls, born to a German immigrant father and a Swedish immigrant mother. It is unknown whether or not Matson finished high school but we know that, with money and employment in short supply, young Matson left Minnesota with his friend Enos Wooding. The men would experience life in a manner reminiscent of the later Beat Generation, an idea popularized by works such as Allen Ginsberg’s  1956 poem, Howl, and Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel, On the Road. Matson and Wooding crossed the United States hopping freight trains and learning important lessons that would help shape their lives upon their return home. Cold nights with no shelter, hunger, the brutality of the railroad detectives who would occasionally catch them on the trains, arrests, and having to panhandle for a living left a mark upon both men. Despite the hardships experienced on this journey, Matson must have had some affection for this time of his life, however harsh it may have been—as he later worked for the Great Northern  Railroad the last two decades of his life.

            Matson married Helen Mary Skepper in 1940, just a year after their first meeting. They had two children before the new father was called up for the draft during the Second World War. Matson was tagged with a 4-F classification, however, records confirm he supported the war effort by building barracks at Fort Pepperrell in Newfoundland. During this time amateur art societies had become prominent on the island.

            When Matson returned to Minnesota before the end of the war he had trouble finding employment, which meant frequent visits to the local pawn shop.  He eventually found a blue collar job and embraced the fact that working in relatively unskilled jobs allowed him to spend more time with his children. He spent a great deal of time visiting the Minneapolis Institute of Art with his oldest child. Admission was free and both father and daughter found peace and fascination in spending hours gazing at the works displayed there.

            The couple had two more children before divorcing in 1952. Following the divorce, Matson found he only had restricted visitation with his children until Helen’s hospitalization a decade later. Though this was a painful time, it appears that a great deal of Matson’s art was produced in these years of isolation and that his art may have become a form of therapy. The artist found a way to create something beautiful from something that caused him a great deal of pain.

            When he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 1973, Matson produced his final work, an abstract cross collage, before contacting his oldest son, Karl, to request a meeting to discuss his final wishes. He told Karl that he wanted to share his story through his art. It was on this day that Karl came to possess his father’s entire body of work, carefully wrapped and sealed. The artwork stayed in this packaging for several decades before it was finally opened and the art unveiled.